Maker’s Mark a Subsidiary of Beam Suntory is Crafting the Spirits that Stir the World. Rooted in two centuries of family heritage, Beam Suntory has evolved into the world's third largest leading premium spirits company ... where each employee is treated like family and trusted with legacy. With our greatest assets - our premium spirits and our people - we're driving growth through impactful marketing, innovation and an entrepreneurial spirit. Beam Suntory is a place where you can come Unleash your Spirit by making an impact each and every day.

Continuous Improvement Supervisor

The following position is open in Loretto Kentucky, United States. This position will be based at the Maker’s Mark distillery which is approximately 20 miles south of Bardstown, KY

What makes this a great opportunity?

Beam Suntory is Crafting the Spirits that Stir the World. Rooted in two centuries of family heritage, Beam Suntory has evolved into one of the leading premium spirits companies where each team member is trusted with a legacy. Maker's Mark exemplifies Suntory's values in staying true to the craft and heritage. With our greatest assets - our brands and our people are driving growth through impactful marketing, innovation, and entrepreneurial spirit, while staying true to our heritage. Makers Mark is a place where you can come Unleash your Spirit by making an impact each and every day.

Role Responsibilities

• Assists manager in working with plant level staff and management on Lean implementation using TRACC as the principal tool. In order to ensure the development of a robust Lean Future State Strategy to be implemented plant wide.
• Helps drive diagnostic and development program at the plant
• Helps drive adherence to TRACC and other standards for the site, value stream and team improvement boards enabling a Lean culture and progression of the Lean journey. Supports plant leaders through required and special team meetings.
• Helps develop plant Lean advocates with an emphasis on championing the plant’s goals, objectives and implementation plans relative to TRACC assessments, plant strategy deployment, and future state plans.
• Facilitates work at the assigned focus area (e.g., Model line, process, function)
• Drives the roll out of TRACC across the plant.
• Supports line manager in changes at the frontline. Ensures on-going education of all employees at the plant in TRACC and other Lean and Continuous Improvement system.
• Works to develop the methods to communicate the status of all Lean efforts to the plant leadership. Provides documentation of results and benefits achieved to the plant leadership as reported through TRACC assessments and scorecard.
• Develops weekly and monthly reports documenting progress toward goals and objectives of improvement
• Documents practices, policies and procedures to enable subsequent implementations to align with initial implementation and align with other systems such as ISK and other management or data systems
• Demonstrates a results-based leadership style with strong impact and influencing skills
• Tenacity and energy in leading change towards an effective work environment
• Welcomes and embraces accountability, diversity and inclusion
• Communicates effectively to direct and motivate team and others, maintaining a persuasive and creditable presentation style at all levels of the organization
• Promotes and adheres to Food Safety, 5S and ISO standards
• Maintains a safe working environment in accordance with OSHA and Safety Regulations
• Transfers the ownership of Lean principles to department leadership and Lean terms once implemented
• Shares “best practice” methods and ideas with other networks
• Supports plant management and plant teams in driving change
• Promotes a Continuous Learning environment through identifying training gaps and coordinating the development, implementation and validation of training while maintaining the Learning Management System and Training Matrices
• Supports and adheres to the job requirements for the department with regards to Quality, Food Safety, Environmental, Health, and Safety regulations and fully support the company IMS objectives and initiatives
• Work with Plant Transformation and Continuous Improvement Manager to develop the Maker’s Mark Employee Safety Team into TRACC coaches to ease the transition of other departments in the change process.
• Oversee the plant Six Sigma Yellow Belt program and work with participants to maintain certification

Other duties as indicated

Qualifications & Experience

• Working knowledge of computer systems, to include the Microsoft Office suite of applications. Strong working knowledge in Excel (regression analysis, pivot tables)
• Good communication skills both written and verbal.
• Comfortable speaking to large audiences
• Previous training and development experience
• Industry experience – ability to lead a team
• Knowledge of Food Safety and GMP practices
• Must have mobility to access all areas of the plant, climb ladders and walk up and down stairs, stoop and bend, and lift up to 40 lbs.
• Experience with TRACC, Six Sigma and/or Lean methodologies preferred
• Ability to facilitate workshops and customize to specific site needs
• Must be willing to learn and understand the culture to energize teams, deal with resistance and sustain improvement work
• Bachelor’s degree preferred
• Certifications / licensure – SAP, Lean manufacturing, HACCP and ISO or Continuous Improvement experience preferred
• Ability to work all shifts as needed

At Beam Suntory, people are our number one priority, and we believe our people grow together in diverse and inclusive environments where their unique insights, experiences and backgrounds are valued and respected. Beam Suntory is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, military veteran status and all other characteristics, attributes or choices protected by law. All recruitment and hiring decisions are based on an applicant’s skills and experience.